Public hearing set for two large solar arrays in Ledyard
Editor's note: This version clarifies what will be discussed at the April 27 public hearing.
Ledyard — The potential lease of two pieces of town land for two large solar arrays has been sent to an April 27 public hearing, though construction of the arrays will be a few years down the road, according to developer Greenskies Renewable Energy.
The Middletown-based company came to the town in December of last year with a proposal to develop roughly 8,000 6-foot solar panels on town-owned property along power lines at 1087 Colonel Ledyard Highway, as well as another 8,000 at the town's capped former landfill at 889R Colonel Ledyard Highway.
The state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection was authorized in 2015 to solicit bids for clean energy infrastructure, and direct electric distribution companies to enter into contracts for selected proposals.
A request for proposals was recently issued for small scale renewable energy projects between two to 20 megawatts. Greenskies intends to submit the pair of projects by the May 4 deadline. James DeSantos, vice president of business development at Greenskies, said his firm probably won't know the project is approved until December.
The company has worked on a mix of commercial and utility-scale solar projects, the largest of which is a five-megawatt facility in East Lyme.
The lease is for 15 acres of the landfill property and for 27 acres near the high tension wires, though Greenskies estimates that the actual footprint will occupy between 8-10 acres apiece. The town would receive roughly $1,000 an acre each year, with escalation over the 20-year term of the lease.
"We are big developers in utilizing landfills, it's unusable land we try to repurpose ... it's probably the greatest use for something like that," DeSantos said.
Even with the approval of the lease and selection of the proposal by DEEP, development of the facility could be a few years down the road, he said.
Several months of engineering will need to be conducted for the sites, as well as post-closure permitting of the landfill by DEEP, and interconnection of the site with the utilities.
The "most conservative estimate" for the start of construction is February or March of 2018, DeSantos said.
The April 27 public hearing will take place at 6:30 p.m. in the Council Chambers of the Town Hall annex building.
Comment threads are monitored for 48 hours after publication and then closed.
